The Warlord Chronicles

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The Warlord Chronicles is a trilogy of books about Arthurian Britain written by Bernard Cornwell (perhaps best known for his Richard Sharpe adventures). The story is written as a mixture of historical fiction and Arthurian mythology.

The books have been published by Penguin and Michael Joseph in the United Kingdom and by St Martin's Press in the United States, in hardcover and paperback editions, each with different ISBNs.

Like other "historical" takes on the Arthurian legends, the series postulates that Post-Roman Britain was a difficult time for the native Britons, being threatened by invasion from the Anglo-Saxons in the East and raids from the Irish in the West. At the same time, they suffered internal power struggles between their petty kingdoms and friction between the old Druidic religion and newly-arrived Christianity.

The story is written as if it took place in Dark Age Britain as described in the original Welsh legends, with appropriate types of technology, culture, warfare, and attitudes. Cornwell also weaves later mythological additions such as Guinevere and Lancelot into the plot.

The protagonist of the series is Derfel Cadarn (pronounced Derv-el), a Saxon brought up as a Briton by Merlin, the greatest of all Druids. In the course of the story, Derfel becomes a great warrior and one of Arthur's lieutenants in his war against the Saxons. Merlin, meanwhile, concerns himself with trying to restore the old gods of Britain.

Among his fans, The Warlord Chronicles is often considered to be among Cornwell's best work, being acclaimed for both its storytelling qualities and its accuracy in portraying contemporary life. Cornwell himself has said, "I have to confess that of all the books I have written these three are my favourites."

For fans of the series, Cornwell's portrayal of Merlin as a lecherous, driven, mischievous and irreverent druid is particularly memorable, as are his unflinching descriptions of Dark Age barbarities. Also interesting is his solution to the problem of integrating the magic of the Arthurian mythos in the context of historical fiction: he leaves room for the reader to take the "magic" depicted in the story at face value or to interpret it as a mixture of coincidence, psychology, and primitive technology.

Isis Audio Books have also published unabridged recordings of all three novels, read by Edmund Dehn.